Open Mikes let first-timers shine

August 03, 2001|By Kevin M. Williams, Tribune Staff Reporter.

Sometimes being a star, even for a night, is as simple as putting your name on a sign-up sheet.

At open mike nights, poets, singers and musicians hold forth in an atmosphere where there's no pressure -- unless it's self-imposed. We often kick out the jams in our showers and dining rooms while friends tell us that we're pretty good. And we wonder how we'd fare on an actual stage, in front of a real audience.

"The first time is not only about singing, but will I be able to stand up there," said Beckie Menzie, host of open mike nights at Gentry for the last 12 years. "It can be very scary, but it also depends upon the situation."

At FitzGerald's Tuesday open stage night, a quiet, courteous crowd pays attention to a singer's soulful, folkish strumming. The next performer isn't as good, but that's okay. It's all right to blow a chord or two, to have your best key be on a ring in your pocket. The people who run these nights, like Richard Burnett at FitzGerald's, are enraptured with the concept.

"For me and a lot of other people, this is a home away from home," said Burnett. "Because it's got guts and soul. We've never had someone say that someone shouldn't be up there, and most people who come here do a pretty good job."

Open mike nights can involve poetry, music or singing to accompaniment from a house band. But what they all have in common are people like us, who just want to get up there. Few of the singers at FitzGerald's will never graduate beyond this room, on these nights. But that's enough.

To get started, you have to decide to get started. Pick a couple of songs, learn them, show up and sign up. There's isn't any minimum talent level required, and nobody's going to boo or throw anything at you if you miss a note or two. If you need a bass player, there will almost certainly be someone willing to sit in with you. Menzie and Rick Allodi, who run the open mike nights at Durty Nellie's in Palatine, say that preparedness mitigates nervousness. When you know the song, the rest is easy.

"I try to be very supportive," said Allodi, who has actually built a business on shepherding singer-songwriters from open mike nights to actual gigging in clubs. "I'll talk to them, try to increase their confidence level. I sometimes play along with them, strumming along with them and whispering the words if they forget them."

If it doesn't go perfectly, so what? And even if you stink, technology can make you sound good. When a band comprised of Tribune editorial staffers recently recorded a song, their less-than-ideal effort was made to sound pretty darned good with digital editing technology. As the story, in this Sunday's Arts & Entertainment will show, anyone can make music and press CDs.

"Not everyone is meant to be a great singer on stage, but they might be a great singer in the car," said Menzie. "Why not find out?"